


The Guide As Prey 3

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 07:02:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/795209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yadda</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Guide As Prey 3

## The Guide As Prey 3

by Jvantheterrible

Author's website:  <http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/SkinnerSanctum/index6.html>

usual

yadda

yadda

This story is a sequel to: The Guide As Prey 2 

* * *

The Guide As Prey 3 

"JIM," Simon yelled into his prize detective's sensitive ear for the twentieth time, shaking the burly man by the shoulders while he struggled to pull Ellison out of what Sandburg always called a 'Zone'. "Come on Detective, we have to go find your partner...Blair needs you, Jim," Simon finished, nearly jumping when Jim first blinked, then grabbed onto his Captain's hands and pushed the older man gently away. Shaking his head and blinking rapidly, Jim looked at his superior and gruffly uttered, "Blair?" 

"Jim, you've been out of it for almost an hour and a half," Simon replied nervously, afraid to approach Ellison with what the man surely already knew, "Have a seat and relax and then I'll fill you---" Simon's attempts at changing the subject were a moot point. 

"Blair," Jim said once more, his voice a bit stronger than it had been mere seconds before. He gazed at Simon with the most pained expression the Captain had ever seen grace the Sentinel's face, grief so palpable that Banks feared if he touched Jim again, he would feel it himself. 

Banks merely shook his head before looking down to the floor, and Jim staggered to the couch and plopped down on it, placing his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands; he'd known the moment Simon managed to bring him 'out' that Blair was gone. The younger man's heartbeat was not in the loft, and nowhere near in vicinity. It was the first thing he'd checked for as he'd resurfaced, and his heart sank in his chest before Simon had even uttered a sound. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Blair woke with his eyes squinted against the bright light shining down from the naked bulb hanging several feet over his head, not sure where he was. He tried to rub his face, but found that he was tied with his arms over his head and chained to the wall behind him. His feet were also tied together and anchored into the wooden floor at the foot of the dirty, bare mattress that he lay upon. He took in his surroundings as best as he could from his position, his heart fluttering with panic as he remembered what had happened before he'd passed out. 

She'd been there, in his home; in THEIR home. She'd...what had she said? That she'd reversed the white-noise generator so that it incapacitated Jim instead of blocking out all the sound that it was supposed to protect him from. Groaning softly and shaking his head back and forth to try and clear it further, Blair pulled feebly and unsuccessfully at his hands, then tried to pull his legs up to his chest - only to fail again. "Goddammit," he whispered aloud, "Why do I always manage to get kidnapped?" He wasn't expecting an answer, and began to tremble when a distinctly female voice replied. 

"Professor Sandburg, you're awake!" She exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together in joy at finding her hostage conscious. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long," she smiled at Blair as she came into his line of vision and knelt down on the floor next to his mattress. "You're even more beautiful close up, darling," she cooed to him, and he tried to turn his head away to avoid her touch as she reached for him. Unable to move far enough away, Sandburg winced as he felt her fingers twist in his hair and stroke down the cheek that was only slightly visible to her beneath his locks and the angle of his head. 

"Come now, Professor," the woman said with a chuckle, "Don't be so shy! I've gone to all this trouble to have you over for a visit. Are you really going to be such an ungrateful guest?" She asked with a hint of threat in her tone. Blair turned his head so that he faced her straight on, trying to maintain some semblance of control, trying to hold his tongue so that he didn't lash out and anger her into something even more drastic than she'd already managed to undertake. 

"Sorry," the young man mumbled as he took in his captor's appearance, trying to place her face in the catalog of hundreds that he knew in his brain, failing to come up with a name no matter how long he met her jade-green gaze. She looked vaguely familiar, Blair thought to himself, but try as he might, he simply couldn't recall. She was pretty, the Guide had to admit, with her dark auburn hair swept tightly back from her oval-shaped face, high cheekbones, slim waist, swelling breasts and alluring voice...if this were any other situation, he might have even found himself flirting with her. Of course, this was THIS situation, and Blair found that he had no desire to speak to her, much less LOOK at her, with the anger and worry about his Sentinel that immediately enveloped him. "Um, what do you...what do you want with me?" Blair asked tentatively, hoping and praying that he wouldn't piss her off by asking a simple question. 

"Blair darling, you've answered your own question," the woman laughed heartily as she released his curls and stood up, only to drop down onto the mattress beside him and lean over him until her lips nearly touched his own, "I simply want YOU." He closed his eyes as she placed a tiny kiss on the tip of his nose before standing once more. "I'm going to go get into something more comfortable. I think you'll like it, Professor, so you just stay there and make yourself comfy-cozy, and I'll be right back. Miss me," she said before winking at him and taking her leave. 

Blair managed to wipe his nose off on his biceps, shuddering as he pulled once more at his restraints and closed his eyes tightly, wondering if anyone had found Jim yet. Wondering if the cavalry would make it in time...AND if there were another soul in the entire universe that managed to get kidnapped and abused and beaten up more than him. "Jim," Blair whispered aloud, "I love you man, no matter what happens," the young man finished, his voice thick with the tears that threatened behind his clamped-shut eyelids. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"GodDAMMIT Simon," Jim roared as he paced the loft helplessly while Serena Chang and the rest of Forensics tried to gather clues surrounding the Guide's disappearance, "Come ON! We're running out of time here. She's been making threatening phone calls for weeks...not to MENTION Sandburg's office today. I have to DO something, sir," Jim said with a certain degree of panic in his voice. 

"Jim, you know the drill; these things take time, and Serena's doing her best. Why don't you---" Simon was once again cut off as Detective Ellison strode silently out the front door of the loft. Worried, Banks followed, watching as Jim dialed up his senses...and acted like some sort of hound dog as he followed some invisible trail down the hall to the elevator. "Ellison, you're not helping Sandb---" Simon managed before the Detective cut him off. 

"They went this way. There's two tracks...a wheelchair! That's it, sir! She knocked him out and got him on the elevator in a wheelchair, and just wheeled him right out. Shit," Jim said before taking off like a flash. Simon was lost in the proverbial dust as the younger man sprinted down three flights of stairs to the lobby, stopping only once he reached the front door. Banks managed to catch up moments later, just in time to see the Detective bolt out the front door. 

"ELLISON," Simon shouted at the top of his lungs, his breath heaving in his lungs as he attempted to keep following his subordinate, "Gotta' quit puffing those damn cigars," he murmured to no one as he tried to keep up. His chase was short-lived as Jim pulled the blue and white Ford up to the curb with a screeching halt and unlocked the passenger door, flinging it open as hard as he could, asking his Captain nonchalantly, "Coming, sir?" 

"Very funny, Detective," Banks groused as he hopped into the vehicle and strapped himself in, mindful of the fact that he was taking up the spot that Jim's missing partner usually did. "GO," Simon shouted once he'd shut his door, smiling a little to himself as Jim pealed out once more and headed up the street, certain that within the hour Sandburg would be home safe and sound, and this bullshit would all be over with. Until the next time, anyway. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Blair had managed to do nothing more than irritate and chafe his wrists and ankles to the point of bleeding by pulling on them, and he growled loudly in frustration as he lay prone once more, his chest heaving from the pain and effort of trying to loosen his restraints. He was thinking of just yelling for his Sentinel, hoping that Jim would already be out looking and listening for him, but stopped short when the door to his tiny sanctuary opened once more, and his captor walked in, closing and deadbolting the door behind her. 

"What do you think, Professor Sandburg?" She purred at him, turning around so he could take in her entire body and its lack of clothing. Her long auburn hair tumbled down around her muscular shoulders, and he looked at her as she strode towards him, her blood-red high heels clicking on the cement beneath them. Blair looked at the red and white checkered flannel teddy she wore - yeah, it was a g-string he noted calmly as she spun - and he immediately began to think cold thoughts. 'Cascade in winter,' Blair thought to himself as he closed his eyes. Regaining his sense of self, Blair shook off the sight before him and instantly Jim's face came into his mind; beautiful Jim. Beautiful and muscular and sexy Jim. Beautiful and muscular and sexy, partner and lover and that which Blair had given up his academic life for Jim. Sandburg chastised himself for even LOOKING at the woman in front of him as he shouted aloud for his partner. 

"Ssssshhhh," the woman told him as she slinked ever closer, "Jim's not here, baby. You've got me, and I'm going to take SUCH good care of you, Blair," She finished as she made her way to the edge of the mattress and sat down next to the now-visibly-trembling young man. "Hush now, and let Cassandra take care of you," she murmured, angry when Blair's eyes fluttered open and broke the spell by saying, "Cassandra? Yeah, Cassandra! Cassandra..." Sandburg's voice trailed off as he struggled to place the last name. 

Caught up in his reverie as he was, Blair failed to notice that his abductor had straddled his waist, her long legs on either side of his as she placed both her hands on both of his shoulders and lowered her face to his. He was lost in thought until he felt her on top of him, his eyes once more closing as he felt her grinding her crotch against his own. There was nothing to be found below Blair Jacob Sandburg's belt other than limp flesh, and Cassandra visibly frowned a bit as she continued to grind her hips into those of her prisoner, ever confident that she would soon awake his passion. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"I've got her trail," Ellison declared as he continued to make screeching left and right turns down the streets of Cascade, lights flashing and sirens blaring. "Won't be long now, sir," Jim said to his Captain - who was entirely too busy gripping the dashboard with his left hand and the armrest to his right with whitened knuckles as the Detective sped along - to hear any words of implied comfort. 

Banks watched with a previously unrealized degree of awe as the Sentinel followed the invisible tracks that led, ultimately and some forty minutes later, to a loft in the upper-income echelon of Cascade. Ellison turned off the truck's headlights and coasted down a darkened alley, stopping without a sound at the entrance to a high-rise in the midst of the business district. As the key was turned in the ignition, Banks released his grip on the dash AND the door to his right as Jim said matter-of-factly, "He's here. Let's go." 

"How do you know, Jim?" Banks asked with incredulity as he undid his seatbelt and opened the Ford's door before hopping out and landing on the pavement next to his already waiting Detective. 

"Simple, sir," Jim replied with a grim grin, "I can hear his heartbeat. And it's way too fast. Let's go," the Sentinel urged as he nearly pulled the metal door from its hinges when he swung it open. 

"Yeah, okay," Banks replied, patting his pockets as he searched for a much-needed cigar, finding it and chewing off the end, spitting it agitatedly onto the concrete as he lit it. "Whatever, Ellison," Simon finished as he lit up the tobacco and took a long drag off of it, closing his eyes as he relished the scent and taste. A moment later, the big man snuffed the cigar out on the sidewalk beneath him as he followed his Detective inside the building, depositing the item into his trenchcoat pocket, content to have gotten at least one 'puff' in before all Hell broke loose. 'I'm too old for this shit,' Banks thought to himself with a shake of his head before he followed Jim up the winding stairs that led to wherever Sandburg must certainly be. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Blair lay prone beneath Cassandra's undulating body, mind and unwilling flesh ignoring her repeated attempts at turning him on. No matter how sultry she tried to be, with her little gasps and moans above him as she masturbated against the crotch of his jeans, all the Guide could think of was his Sentinel lover. 

"Mmm, come on baby, you know it feels good, doesn't it? You want me, don't you Blair?" She groaned, becoming more frustrated by the second as his body refused to respond to hers. "Come on Blair, I know you can't want that pig's cock up your ass all the time... don't you want a real woman to show you how it's done?" Sandburg realized then, even with his eyes still blissfully closed, that she had no idea at all what real passion and love was all about. 

Still, he was surprised at the sudden sharpness that poked at his throat, and when he finally opened his eyes, he swallowed harshly and caught his breath with a healthily audible gasp. Cassandra had her arms over her head and was holding the tip of the largest machete he'd seen since the Peruvian Jungle to his jugular. His inadvertent breath proved just how sharp it was; he could feel the trickle of blood run down his neck even as her green eyes appeared to glow above him. Shit, Blair thought silently as he made sure he held her gaze, not even blinking as he watched her remove the blade cautiously from beneath his chin. She winked at him once more and said simply, "There you go, sweetheart. You just keep looking at me. Feel me against you. I'm so fucking hot and wet for you, Professor," she moaned as she dropped the weapon to the concrete with a distinct clatter and leaned down and forward so that she could lap at the tiny wound she'd created. 

Wincing, Blair kept his eyes open as she tongued at his neck and resolved himself to what he figured was his final course of action. He had no choice but to give her what she wanted, of that much he was certain. It wasn't really cheating, he thought to himself wildly as she increased her movements on top of him once again, was it? Would Jim forgive him if he HAD to do 'it' to survive? Surely it wouldn't...couldn't...be construed as cheating if it was merely for the purpose of living...could it? Would it? 

"Jim," Blair moaned in nothing more than a whisper, and despite the slight stirring in his still-mostly-uninterested member, Cassandra's instantly sneering face came into view mere centimeters away from his own, the Guide cursing himself for his lack of control. "Oh, Professor, no," she said with a shake of her head as she appeared to become upset, tears in her eyes as she slowly rolled off of him and came to rest once again at his side. "I tried, Blair, really I did. I wanted you so much, and I figured that I would be woman enough to bring you back. But you're too far gone, darling. I had no idea," she said as she shook her head and stood up next to the mattress, Blair's eyes taking in every move that she made. 

He watched silently, transfixed, as he wondered what her next move would be. She strode slowly across the concrete, pacing for several moments with her hands on her forehead, her heels click-clacking unnervingly with each step that she took. He was relieved that she hadn't reached for the machete upon leaving his side, but he began to tremble as she moved out of his line of sight, disappearing for several minutes. 'Jim, God, where ARE you,' he muttered to himself miserably, 'she's fucking nuts, and she's got something else up her...well, if she HAD a sleeve it would be up there, but she doesn't, and oh Christ I'm scared, Jim.' His inner monologue halted abrubtly when she returned what seemed like an hour later. 

Cassandra had removed the flannel g-string teddy and now stood completely nude in front of him. Her breasts trembled a bit as she bent down and picked up the machete that rested next to the mattress where she'd discarded it earlier and led the young man to believe that he was safe from the blade. As she smiled down at him innocently, Blair's trembling turned into all-out shaking, and he gasped as the attractive and obviously insane woman pressed the glinting blade against the fabric of his shirt. It was only undone by one button, and she held the menacingly sharp tip of the machete against the hollow of his throat as she aligned it with the slight 'v' that his collar made before drawing it slowly downwards - pressing firmly against his flesh as she made her descent. She had to take a full step backwards as she drew the blade down the combination of fabric and flesh, and Blair howled aloud - more from shock than the biting pain that followed the southerly trail - as she reached the waist of his jeans. 

Blair's captor relinquished her hold on the weapon and let it fall once more to the concrete alongside the mattress, her strong hands pulling apart the fabric that still concealed his chest to her. She ignored the rapidly-increasing trail of blood that resulted from her actions and knelt down once more, her knees on either side of Blair's hips, pressing her breasts into his chest, revelling in the feel of his now-blood-soaked chest hair against her own alabaster flesh. 

"Yeah, that's right," she murmured, and Blair found himself biting his tongue so that he didn't wretch all over her then and there, "Nice and slick, just waiting for me," Cassandra finished dreamily, completely and totally lost to her fantasy. She yanked the shirt out of Blair's jeans and knee-walked backwards down his legs until her lips were level with the button that held his jeans fastened. "And now, for something completely different," she chuckled at the man beneath her. Blair closed his eyes briefly, only allowing them to flutter open when she screamed at him to pay attention; he had no choice now BUT to do as she told him. When he felt her fingers unfasten his jeans, Sandburg sucked in yet another large breath of air, determined to fight her off as long as he could. 

He ignored the throbbing in his wrists and ankles, his limbs sliding around in what could only be his own blood from pulling on them as violently as he had in his futile efforts to escape. He ignored the throbbing in his head from the chloroform-soaked cloth she'd used to take him from his Sentinel in the first place, using his own advice to 'dial it down' in his head. He'd even attempted to dial down the pain in his chest as she sliced through his delicate flesh - along with his shirt - in order to reach her prize. But he found himself unable to dial anything down - least of all the degree of terror he experienced as he felt her unzip his jeans and take his still-flaccid member into her mouth. He screamed his lover's name into the empty room, his voice reverberating and echoing off the bare walls; despite his best efforts, his cock had a mind of its own. As she licked and suckled at his growing semi-erection, Blair twisted in his bonds, damaging his wrists and ankles that much further in his futile attempts to buck her off. She merely cackled in response, releasing his penis from between her lips before she crawled up his body and violently planted her dripping core on top of him, drawing him into her as best as she could. 

Tears rolled down Sandburg's cheeks as he closed his eyes and began to cry in earnest, resolutely ignoring the satisfied murmurs emanating from above. 'Jim, you're late,' he thought to himself as he willed himself to lose consciousness. Willed his heart to stop beating. Willed his soul to leave him so that he could do this deed in peace and not have his love for Jim tainted by this heinous act. But his body was just as unforgiving as the bitch on top of him, and he gave up all semblance of fight and simply lay there. His wrists and ankles soaked the mattress he lay on with his own blood, and his heart pounded as he experienced the worst panic attack he'd ever had in his life. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"Here," Jim said as he reached the landing of the fifth floor, Simon panting behind the slightly younger man as he halted at the Sentinel's insistence. "He's in here," Ellison proclaimed proudly. The older Captain watched as the hopefulness left his Detective's face within seconds, "Shit...Sir, Sandburg's pulse...it's...it's off the fucking charts," Jim said, the slightest hint of panic peeking through. Banks had been on more than enough missions to know that their time was limited. 

"Come on, Jim," Simon grunted as he caught his breath and braced himself with his muscular arms locked close to his chest, all the while steeling himself for the impending knocking down of the door that he knew entirely too well was coming, "What are you waiting for?" 

Jim managed a curt half-smile as he adopted his Captain's stance, and the two men proceeded to burst into the loft simultaneously. The door splintered in its hinges, and they both huffed loudly at the same time as they found themselves in the middle of what appeared to be an abandoned apartment. No furnishings were evident, and Simon heaved a great exhausted sigh at the sight. "Jim," Banks began, but Ellison merely held up one hand, open-palmed in an attempt at quieting the Captain, and Simon stood where he had come to rest, reluctant to do so much as take a deep breath. 

"He's here, sir," Ellison proclaimed with more certainty than Banks had managed to procure throughout the entire operation, "Just through this wall," Jim finished as he stalked silently towards the suspiciously bare expanse ahead. 

"Detective," Banks started exasperatedly, "There's nothing ther---" the older man's words cut off as he watched, shocked and stricken, as James Ellison, aka the Sentinel, placed one fist firmly through the drywall, only to leave a hole the size of a softball in its wake. Plaster crumbled to the floor even as the seemingly ironclad fist was pulled back through and towards the strong man's chest. 

"BLAIR," Jim howled, and Simon shuddered at the sound of the Detective's voice, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was experiencing something that had never been experienced by a so-called 'outsider' before, and praying at one and the same time that he never experienced it again. Captain Banks watched as the Sentinel scrabbled with bare hands and bloody fists at the plaster that opened to reveal, eventually, a room that no one would have known existed were it not for...Sentinel Senses. And a missing Guide. And...the older man shuddered as he himself jumped in to help knock the crumbling drywall away. 

Within minutes, the hole was large enough for the Sentinel to step through, and though Ellison had been yelling for his partner the whole time, no answer had been forthcoming. Pistol drawn, mouth agape, Jim froze as he stood up after having had to bend down to step through the ruined wall. He purposely took a step back and blocked the Captain's entrance into the room, an inhuman snarling emitting from his throat as he warned his superior to stay back. The sound alone was enough to stop Simon in his tracks, despite his many tenured years as both Detective and Captain; he knew when a situation had gone from business to personal, and this was no exception. In fact, this had been personal from the very beginning...and it was about to end on the same note. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Jim wasn't certain what shocked him more; the sight of the naked woman straddling his Guide in front of him, or the scent of his Guide's blood so thickly permeating the air. Deciding within milliseconds that the latter was definitely higher on the list, the Sentinel let loose a warcry that would have wakened the dead, minutely pleased when the devil that was obviously torturing his partner stopped in mid-bounce on top of the younger man. 

She turned slightly, her teeth bared in a mockery of a grin, and Jim paled when he saw the crimson smeared up and over her shoulders. She had been coating herself in his Guide's blood, reveling in the young man's suffering, and before Jim could utter the only word that came to mind - MINE - he had pulled the trigger and shot her squarely in the head. The force of the blast knocked her completely off of her prisoner, and she lay, still spasming, on the floor next to the filthy mattress that contained his Guide's trembling form, her high heels clacking in an uneven beat against the concrete until she was finally motionless. 

"Blair," Jim whispered as he took one agonizingly slow step at a time towards his Guide; it felt as though it took him hours to reach the younger man - like a slow-motion replay had kicked in, preventing him from reaching his lover as quickly as he would have liked. "Blair...oh...God, oh...baby," Jim whispered again, his voice breaking as he took in the scene in front of him. 

It was only at that moment that the Sentinel heard the raspy whisper emanating from between his Guide's cracked and swollen lips, and tears flowed unnoticed down the Detective's cheeks as he opened up his hearing fully so that he could listen to the mantra his love had adopted. Blair chanted under his breath, still unaware that he'd been saved, "Love you Jim Love you Jim Love you Jim Love you Jim..." 

"Simon," Jim said loudly and with more decorum than he himself would have ever thought possible, "Call an amublance, please, Sir." 

"Already did, Jim. They're on their way. Is the kid alright?" Simon shouted back, refusing to look through the hole in the wall, allowing his prized team their deserved moments of privacy. 

"He will be, Sir, he will be," Jim muttered as he leaned forward and untied the ropes that bound his other half's wrists together, wincing at the coppery scent and too-slick feel of Blair's blood on the pads of his fingers. Ellison worked quickly, and within two minutes had deftly untied the knots that bound his love to his filthy prison. Settling himself on the opposite side of the mattress from where Cassandra lay, the Sentinel gently pulled the Guide into his lap, stroking the sweat-dampened curls and murmuring his own mantra, "Love you Blair, it's okay, I'm here...love you babe, it's going to be okay, I'm here." The small smile that surfaced on the young man's face at hearing his Sentinel's voice nearly undid Jim. He merely pulled the bloodstained flannel closed across Blair's injured chest and, gingerly as he could, held him tighter within his warm embrace...as the sound of the sirens moved closer and closer. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

"GodDAMMIT Jim, I told you I'm FINE," Blair yelled angrily at his lover as the older man tried to help him move a box of papers that had been cleared out of his University office. The Guide had been terse at best since his return home nearly a week and a half earlier, and Jim was crushed. Sandburg had vehemently insisted upon sleeping in his own room, something that he had not done for months before the incident, yet refused to relinquish after his three-day stay in Cascade General. "Just let me DO this, okay man? Jesus," Blair finished as he shook his head in exasperation, his errant curls once again teasing his suffering older lover that much more. Jim would have gladly sold his soul to be able to touch that hair; to bury his fingers in the silk and softness and scent that made up his Guide. To pull the younger man close, as he had in the months - and moments - before the paramedics had wheeled him out of the loft that Cassandra Serris inhabited. Unfortunately, his wish, as all others that Ellison had harbored since Sandburg's kidnapping, went unheeded. 

"I'm sorry, Chief. I was just trying to - " Blair cut Jim off in mid-apology, waving his hands around frantically as he customarily ignored the older man's eyes and mumbled, "Whatever man, okay? Just...leave me alone. I have to sort through all this shit...not like I'll need it again, but hey, gotta' keep on top of it, right?" Jim closed his eyes and shook his head at his partner's once more blatantly bad attitude. All that Blair had exuded since the incident was negative sarcasm, and though Jim had quickly tired of it, he realized that a certain degree of decorum was necessary regarding the young man's feelings. He had, after all, been rendered completely helpless - yet again - in the face of adversity. Taken advantage of - in the worst way imaginable - by a woman who had turned out to be the Switchman's cousin. 

Jim backed off completely, all too aware of the fact that it was indeed a Saturday. Saturday; the day that the two men usually spent mostly in bed, tangled in one another's arms, bringing one another to the heights of ecstasy and beyond. Only THIS Saturday, James Joseph Ellison climbed the stairs to his once-shared bedroom alone. THIS Saturday, as well as the previous two, the Sentinel retreated singly, vowing to do whatever it would take to get his Guide, partner, and lover back. Flopping face-down on the California-King sized bed, Jim buried his face in what used to be Blair's pillows, soaking up the fading scent of his Guide in the only way that remained, his unspoken and still-ignored desires remaining unrequited for yet another day. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Jim awoke in the middle of the night, disoriented; he'd fallen asleep much too early, but the lights from the living room below burnt brightly, and he realized that Blair was still up and rummaging restlessly through his belongings. The bedside clock read 1:45 AM; Jim groaned softly as he rolled over and, once again, lamented the absence of his Guide. He lay quietly on his back for many minutes, listening to his young lover hem and haw over the notes and papers that he continued to pore over despite all that had happened. Though he admired Blair's persistence, Jim was becoming increasingly worried that he'd managed to lose that part of the young Anthropologist that once so stoically defended, protected, and - dare Jim say - loved the Sentinel. 

With a soft groan, Jim rolled his body out of bed and tied himself up in his robe. Blair had shown absolutely NO interest in being intimate, visibly shuddering if Jim came out of the shower or bedroom clothed in anything less than boxers and a t-shirt. Modesty foremost in his mind, Jim headed down the stairs to find his partner - and Guide - and still-missing lover - seated on the sectional sofa that took up a great part of their living room. The young man's elbows rested on his bent knees and his face was cupped in his hands, his normally strong and stoic shoulders shaking with sobs of despair. 

Silently, Jim strode over to the couch and took a seat next to Blair, wanting more than anything in the universe to put his arms around the younger man and comfort him...but afraid to make bodily contact due to Sandburg's not-yet-waning fear of intimacy of ANY kind. "Chief," Jim said softly, his voice barely above a whisper, "Blair, please don't cry, baby. I love you so much," he continued quietly, "I miss you so fucking much...I'm sorry. You just let it out, okay? You just let it out as much as you need to. I know you don't want me to touch you right now...GOD, I want to hold you so bad, but I'll wait. I'll wait, sweetheart, do you hear me?" Jim continued softly, his hands folding and unfolding harshly in his lap, "I'll wait as long as it takes, Blair." 

Many more minutes passed while Jim sat prone beside his suffering lover, and the Sentinel closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa while he catalogued all the essences of his Guide. Hearing the ever-pounding heartbeat. Scenting the fear beneath deodorant-disguised sweat. Feeling the heat exuding from the body next to him on the sofa, so close - yet so far away from comfort. Jim allowed himself to open his eyes and catch a sideways glance at his Guide, instantly wishing he hadn't as the young man clenched his fists tightly against his cheeks and allowed a rare verbal sob to escape. Jim's heart wrenched more surely than anything else in existence as the sound echoed inside his way-too-sensitive ears, his normally-hidden emotions finally getting the best of him. 

"Blair, please - I...I can't take this anymore...please," Jim begged, surprised and shocked and blissed beyond belief when the figure next to him proceeded to launch itself bodily into the Sentinel's waiting - and empty way too long now - lap. Two sinewy strong arms wound themselves around the Sentinel's thick neck, and the older man silently wound his own muscular limbs around his lover and pulled him close, close, closer than ever before. 

"Jesus CHRIST, Chief," Jim murmured ecstatically into the curls that engulfed his face seconds later, "Blair...MY Blair," Ellison whispered harshly into his mate's ear as his arms, seemingly of their own free will, pulled Blair ever closer - trying to pull his lover inside his very self. "Chief...I missed you so much...so FUCKING much..." the Sentinel's voice trailed off as he gave in to the emotion that threatened to strangle him, wetness streaming unabashedly down both of the older man's cheeks. 

"I'm sorry," Blair choked out between gasping sobs, pulling his lover as close to him as he could, ignoring the slight throbbing of the new wounds that ran the length of his chest and slightly lower, "I didn't want to...didn't mean to...cheat on you like that," he cried. Jim pulled away a fraction, just enough so he could meet his Guide's gaze and respond, "Don't you EVER apologize to me, Blair. I'M the one who should be sorry...I wasn't there in time...I..." Jim's words failed him as his lover used the opportunity to shush him with lips and tongue, melting the older man immediately with his charms. "Ssssshhh," the younger man breathed into his lover's mouth, "Don't..." Blair finished, unable to continue vocally as his older lover swallowed his tongue and all forthcoming sentiments wholeheartedly. 

The two men writhed together on the couch, groins grinding against one another, lips tasting one another, arms enfolding one another for what seemed like eternity until finally - FINALLY - both men had spent their passion within the confines of one another's shorts. Sentinel and Guide lay panting - Guide sprawled fully atop Sentinel - both grinning stupidly at one another, nose to nose and soon thereafter blissfully liplocked. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Blair nipped playfully at his Sentinel's nose, a sharp bark of laughter escaping the older man before strong arms once again enfolded the anthropologist firmly. Clutching his charge closely, Jim stood from the sofa and allowed Blair's legs to encircle his waist, the younger man still snickering even as Jim's large and capable hands cupped the younger man's asscheeks, pulling his lover's body close. Snickers melted immediately into moans of wanton need, and Jim suckled at his lover's throat as he made his way up the stairs carefully, not wanting to displace Blair's flesh from its close proximity to his own. 

"Mmmmm, yeah," Blair groaned as he allowed his lover to deposit him bodily onto their bed...the same bed that had missed its twin occupants since THE incident. Beneath his Sentinel, Blair murmured hungrily; he'd missed the weight that bore him into their mattress, and his ecstasy was short-lived as he allowed his emotions free reign. It took no longer than five minutes for Sandburg to come, spurting his seed enthusiastically against the thighs and chest of his lover, and even less time for Jim to return the sentiment. 

Sticky and sated some ten minutes later, both men found themselves chuckling aloud. Despite the fact that they struggled to swallow one another's oxygen (not to mention other things), they managed to shower and tumble back into the massive bed side by side, both of them on their backs as they stared - practically unseeingly - up at the ceiling. 

"I never thought you did, you know," Jim said quietly, blindly but surely grasping Blair's hand in his own as he felt the younger man tense next to him. 

"Did what?" Blair asked, but he pretty much already knew what his lover was trying to say. 

"Cheat, Darwin," Jim managed to grind out between tightly pursed lips and clenched jaws, before he rolled to his side and enfolded his Guide within his strong, protective embrace. Blair turned on his side to face his Sentinel, allowing the older man to pull him closer still. 

"I'm glad," Sandburg whispered softly, "But I still - " Ellison cut his partner off in mid-sentence, clutching the younger man so tightly to his own body that they both gasped briefly for air. 

"No buts, Chief. I'm here for you, now and always, and I want to tell you something. Something important," Jim trailed off, waiting for Blair to give him the go ahead. 

"What," Blair whispered Sentinel-audibly, waiting with baited breath and a pounding heartbeat that betrayed his mostly calm exterior. 

"Blair, I can't promise to keep you out of harm's way. I know that it's ideal for me, being your Sentinel and Blessed Protector, but I failed you. I failed you this time as I've failed you several times before. And no matter how much I wish I could keep you safe..." Jim swallowed harshly and continued, "No matter how hard I try to be there for you 24/7, I just...I can't make that promise to you, babe. And it breaks my fucking heart," Ellison finished grimly. 

"Jim," Blair whispered brokenly several minutes later, "I...I have to tell you something, too." Blair scooted infinitely closer to his lover, tightening his own grip before taking a deep - albeit shaky - breath. "You HAVE been there for me, man. The only reason I'm here...breathing...and loving you...is BECAUSE of you. And it's not because you haven't been there for me, Jim. It's because you ARE always there...always HERE," Blair said as he pulled one set of their entwined hands up to his own heart, "That I'm still here with you. FOR you. Always, man. Always. Just like I'll always be with you...no matter what," the younger man finished as he moved their hands from his heart to the center of Jim's chest. 

Jim struggled for several moments for his next words; vocalizing was a stretch for him in the best of circumstances, despite the openness that Blair Sandburg brought out in him, and now the perfect words seemed to ultimately fail him. "Chief," Ellison began, his voice nothing more than an emotionally strained whisper, "I...I love you, Blair Jacob Sandburg. I love you more than I've ever loved anyONE or anyTHING in my entire life," he finished, practically choking on his own tears. 

Blair was quiet for a long time, the only sound in the darkened bedroom coming from his own falling tears and quietly hitching breaths, though he was sure Jim was shedding his own in the camouflage that masked both their faces. Finally, he came up with something that was a worthy reply to his normally stoic and stone-faced lover. "James Joseph Ellison, you are my best friend. My partner. My Sentinel. My lover. From this day forward, I pledge my undying devotion, care, passion, and all that which makes me ME from the depths of my very soul to you. I love YOU, Jim. God, I love you," the younger man finished, and both men chuckled softly as they realized that they'd turned into complete and total saps. 

"Sandburg, we're worse than women," Jim said as he wiped his tears and burrowed his smiling face into his lover's thick mane of crazy curls. 

"Yeah, man, we really are...but it's not SO bad. So...which of us comes from Venus?" Blair asked with a rapidly rumbling laugh that started deep in his chest and rumbled until it managed to spill between his lips and vibrate against his lover's taut pectorals. 

"Me, Sandburg. Definitely me. Because the only place YOU could POSSIBLY be from is Mars," Jim laughed. 

"I hear that, man. I hear that," Blair said with a huge smile as he wriggled free from Jim's arms long enough to turn onto his side and press his back against his Sentinel's ever-warming chest. "Goodnight, Jim. Love you." 

"Love you too babe," Jim replied, happily burying his face into his partner's curls, soaking up the sight and feel and scent and taste and sound of lightly crackling static from the auburn mass as it traveled into all of his senses, allowing him to fully experience his Guide. His partner. His best friend. His lover. And he realized then, at that very moment, that he'd never felt so lucky before in his entire life, and probably wouldn't again...but it didn't matter. Blair Jacob Sandburg was with him, totally and completely, and that's all that really mattered in both of their worlds. 

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Thanks for reading. Feedback welcomed to duranjaxter@comcast.net, but flames are NEVER welcomed. I've been writing too long for flames...sorry if you hated it, but I really hope you liked it. Oh, and GOD BLESS AMERICA! 

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End The Guide As Prey 3 by Jvantheterrible: duranjaxter@comcast.net

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Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


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